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India’s prime court docket has stated that authorities can’t demolish properties merely as a result of an individual has been accused of a criminal offense and has laid down strict pointers for any such motion.
The ruling is available in response to a bunch of pleas in search of motion in opposition to authorities utilizing demolition as a punitive measure in opposition to these accused or convicted of crimes.
“The executive [the government] cannot become a judge and demolish properties. The chilling sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building reminds one of lawlessness where might was right,” the Supreme Court stated on Wednesday.
It additionally directed authorities to offer adequate time to the affected particular person to problem the order or vacate the property.
The ruling comes within the backdrop of a spate of cases, the place authorities in states, notably ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have used demolition as a tool to punish folks accused of crimes. News studies typically consult with the motion as “bulldozer justice”.
The motive cited is against the law building however specialists have questioned the logic and say there isn’t any authorized justification for doing this.
While the victims embody the households of Hindus, opposition leaders and several other activists say that the motion is usually focused at Muslims, particularly after spiritual violence or protests.
The BJP denies the allegation and chief ministers of those states have linked the demolitions with their robust stance on crime.
During the listening to on Wednesday, the Supreme Court used robust phrases to criticise the observe.
“Such highhanded and arbitrary actions have no place in a constitutional democracy,” it stated, including that officers “who took the law in their hands” ought to be held accountable.
The court docket then issued pointers, which make it obligatory for authorities to offer a 15-day discover to an occupant earlier than the alleged unlawful property is demolished.
The discover ought to clarify the explanations for demolition. If the accused doesn’t reply to the discover inside 15 days, authorities can proceed with the motion however they’d be required to movie the method, the court docket stated.
It additionally warned that violating these pointers would quantity to contempt of court docket.
The court docket has strongly criticised extrajudicial demolitions all through the trial.
Earlier this month, it noticed that demolishing properties merely as a result of an individual was accused of a criminal offense was “simply unacceptable under rule of law”.
It additionally noticed that residents’ voices couldn’t be silenced by the specter of demolition.
While the Supreme Court’s pointers could be seen as a optimistic step in direction of stopping such demolitions from changing into the norm, observers level out that the implementation of the order could be key in making certain the observe stops.
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